Category: Blog

It’s been a period of “historic services” in the life of the Lutheran church. And feeling somewhat like Forrest Gump, I’ve been blessed to end up at most of them. And with each service, I’ve felt a wave of gratitude and renewal and faith in the Lutheran church as time and time again people have come together to stand up against insidious and damaging discrimination within the Church and throw open the doors of the church to LGBTQ people.  These services have been a blessing to all who witness them.

And somehow, yesterday’s service of Reconciliation, Restoration and Reception at St. Francis Lutheran Church felt wholly new.  This is the congregation that, along with First United Lutheran Church, stood up years ago to injustice and spiritual violence in the church when they called lesbian pastors Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart and gay pastor Jeff Johnson, despite a policy barring them from doing so. These congregations issued these calls because they were in the midst of an AIDS crisis and needed the LGBT community to know how truly welcome they were. They issued these calls because they knew that the policy barring partnered lesbian and gay pastors from serving was unjust.

Twenty years later, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American agreed with them. After a period of conversation and discernment the Sierra Pacific Synod issued an invitation for them to return. St. Francis Lutheran Church voted unanimously to once again join the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

At the beginning of a powerful service, Bishop Mark W. Holmerud knocked on the door of the church and was received by the current congregational president and the president serving at the time of St. Francis’ expulsion. These leaders welcomed the bishop. And in an important and moving sermon, the bishop welcomed the ELCA home. You can view the full sermon here.

This is a day of grace for the whole church. How could a congregation that had been forcibly removed from a denomination because they followed the gospel and not a discriminatory policy fraught with human failing decide to return? Why would they? Because God can lead us to places we would not go ourselves. As Paul writes in Ephesians: “For Christ is our peace; in whose flesh both groups have been made into one, who has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”

Through Christ, we are all welcomed home.

If you cannot attend in person, join us virtually on Sunday as St. Francis Lutheran Church, expelled in 1995 after calling lesbian pastors Rev. Ruth Frost and Rev. Phyllis Zillhart, is restored as a congregation of the ELCA in an historic and unprecedented service.

Click this link at 3:00 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, February 27, 2011 to join the service.

Here is a link to a great article about the journey of St. Francis Lutheran Church.

We’ll “see” you there!

44  wonderful folks gathered at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland, OR last Sunday night to talk about ELM and Portland-based EcoFaith Recovery.  It was an inspiring and energizing time!

We gathered around a drum circle and shared in an incredible buffet of local and sustainable food prepared through the “Simply in Season” groups initiated as a partnership between EcoFaith Recovery and St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, OR.  Following the music and meal, we shared stories of the exciting ministry going on through EcoFaith Recovery and updates from ELM. EcoFaith Recovery has launched a number of programs, including Table Talks that bring folks together for conversation about the environment, Green Spirit, a spiritual support group for those seeking recovery from  cultural  addictions that hurt the earth, and the Simply in Season groups: The primary resource is the  cookbook and its accompanying study guide for small groups published by the Mennonite Church.(Remember the “More with Less” cookbook? This is the next incarnation of that book.)  Group members meet in one member’s home to share recipes prepared using the cookbook. There is even a Simply in Season  cooking class  for kids!

It was wonderful to create and deepen connections between people who came because of ELM, and those who came due to EcoFaith Recovery, and especially those who just came out to learn about both groups! I left feeling just amazed by this “rainforest” ministry going on…life leading to life (thank you Bishop Brauer-Rieke, who gives a wonderful talk about the “rainforest” church).

EcoFaith Recovery began with a concept grant from ELM in 2009 and continued with an additional grant in 2010. We are blessed to be continuing to fund this growing ministry in 2011, thanks to support from our wonderful donors. Pastor Robyn is an ELCA pastor today because the ELM roster was there to support her ministry when she didn’t see a future in the church as a publicly-identified lesbian called to ordained ministry.

You support ELM. ELM supports Robyn. Robyn supports EcoFaith Recovery. And EcoFaith Recovery is renewing the church. What a joy for all of us to be a part of this!

We share in the good news included in the following press release  from St. Francis Lutheran Church…

SAN FRANCISCO – FEBRUARY 13, 2011 – St. Francis Lutheran Church, which was removed from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1995 after ordaining a lesbian couple as its pastors, has taken the final vote required to rejoin the ELCA.

At its annual meeting on Sunday, the 141-member congregation ratified its approval of a new constitution, formalizing a decision to reunite that was made last July. Before rejoining the ELCA, St. Francis had to make minor changes to its own governing document. Members approved the new constitution in October, but the final ratification had to wait for Sunday’s meeting.

St. Francis will celebrate its return to the national church in a special worship service on Feb. 27, when it will welcome Bishop Mark Holmerud of the ELCA’s Sierra Pacific Synod. Members of the media are welcome to attend this event, which will take place at 3 p.m. in the historic St. Francis sanctuary at 152 Church Street.

The return of St. Francis to the ELCA comes at a time of historic change in the national church following a series of votes at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly that changed policies relating to sexual minorities in the church and its clergy. Scores of ELCA congregations have taken steps to leave the national church in protest over those votes. With 4.7 million members, the ELCA is the largest Christian church in the United States to allow lesbian and gay clergy with partners to serve its congregations.

In 1990, St. Francis called the Rev. Ruth Frost and the Rev. Phyllis Zillhart as its pastors, breaking an ELCA rule that forbade churches from calling gay or lesbian pastors unless they had taken a vow of celibacy. The church was put on trial along with First United Lutheran Church of San Francisco, which had called a gay man, the Rev. Jeff Johnson, as its pastor. The ELCA found both churches in violation of the rule and suspended them. After a five-year grace period, both were removed from the ELCA on Dec. 31, 1995.

At the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, the national church repealed that discriminatory policy toward gay and lesbian clergy. Since then, many gay and lesbian pastors, including Frost, Zillhart and Johnson, have been welcomed into the ELCA’s roster of approved clergy. The congregation of First United Lutheran Church is still discerning its future path.

At the Feb. 27 celebration, photographers and video crews will be allowed inside the sanctuary in select locations while the service takes place. The Rev. Robert Goldstein, pastor of St. Francis, and other participants will be made available for interviews following the event.

St. Francis Lutheran Church is located near Church and Market Streets, across from Safeway. Parking permits will be available for media, and the church is easily accessible via public transit.

About St. Francis Lutheran Church

Formed in 1964 through the merger of Lutheran churches founded by Danish and Finnish immigrants, St. Francis Lutheran Church is open to people of all backgrounds and sexual orientations and has been ministering to San Francisco’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities since the 1980s. Visit St. Francis on the Web at www.st-francis-lutheran.org.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) has announced that Lisa Larges will be the keynote presenter for its spring rostered leaders retreat. The retreat will be held April 1-3 near Lake Geneva, WI and is open to all publicly-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Lutheran clergy and rostered lay leaders. The retreat will be the formal launch of Proclaim, a new professional community for LGBTQ rostered leaders in the Lutheran church. Registration information is available here.

A lifelong Presbyterian, Lisa became a candidate for ministry in the Twin Cities Presbytery (a regional governing body in the Presbyterian Church) in 1986, and a publicly-identified lesbian candidate in 1991. The Twin Cities Presbytery affirmed her call to ministry as an open lesbian.

In 1992, that affirmation was overturned by a ruling from the highest judicial court in the Presbyterian Church.

Lisa has continued to seek ordination to Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church for more than 20 years. In a groundbreaking decision the Presbytery of San Francisco approved Lisa to move forward in the Ordination process. The vote by the San Francisco Presbytery to move Lisa forward in the ordination process was challenged, and in the fall of 2009, the highest court of the Presbyterian Church ruled that the Presbytery could bring Lisa forward for the trials of examination for Ordination.

In 2010, the Presbytery voted 156-138 to approve her for Ordination. This decision was been challenged, and will go through the Presbyterian judicial process. A final ruling is expected in early 2011.

“Lisa’s story has parallels and intersections with many in our community,” said ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts. “Her public identity as a lesbian called to serve has been instrumental in changes within the Presbyterian church. We are delighted to learn more with her!”

Lisa currently serves as Minister Director for That All May Freely Serve, an organization working for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the Presbyterian Church, particularly on the issue of ordination.

On January 15, 2011 a memorial service for the Rev. Paul Egertson was held at at the Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University.

“Paul Egertson, a senior lecturer at the Thousand Oaks university, was a compassionate man well known in the church as an excellent theologian and great teacher. He garnered widespread national attention, though, as an advocate for full inclusion of gays in the life of the church and the ordination of gay and lesbian candidates for ministry.”- California Lutheran University website

Paul served on ELM’s Board of Directors and was an essential part of ELM’s work towards the full inclusion of LGBTQ Rostered pastors in the ELCA.

Watch the video of the moving service here.

Rostered LGBTQ leader Rev. Megan Rohrer is working on an exciting project- ‘Vanguard Revisited‘. The first stage of the project is to conduct oral history interview with members of Vanguard: “ Cited as the first gay liberation organization by historians, our project interviewed some of the original members of Vanguard and the pastors who made their work possible.” Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is funding this portion of the Project.

Some other aspects of the project include a traveling speaking tour, creating a zine, writing a book, a physical exhibit at the GLBT Historical Society and much more.

ELM board co-chairs Rev. Erik Christensen and Rev. Jen Nagel are involved with an exciting upcoming event, the Emerging Leaders Institute sponsored by Plymouth Center for Progressive Christian Faith. The Institue is April 28-May 1, 2011 in Minneapolis. Diana Butler Bass is the keynote speaker.

Erik is a past attendee and this year he has been hard at work serving as conference planning chair. Jen is serving as a mentor to 2011 Institute attendees. Learn more about the Institute and how to apply by visiting the following sites:

Click here for the Emerging Leaders facebook page.

Click here for the Emerging Leaders event facebook page.

The ELM Board of Directors met over the weekend in Chicago for their semi-annual retreat. This meeting occurred the same weekend as Paul Egertson’s memorial service in Thousand Oaks, CA. Paul was serving on the ELM board at the time of his death.

The meeting began with a time of remembrance and celebration of Paul’s life. ELM board member, Vance Blackfox, a member of the Cherokee nation, led a simple service of story-sharing. Members placed a bit of tobacco in a small bowl and lit a candle as they shared a story or memory about Paul. Members also lifted up prayers for Paul’s wife, Shirley, and their children, especially Greg, who has been closely involved with ELM since its formation. Vance later wrapped the tobacco in a small prayer cloth and tied it to a cedar tree near our meeting place.

On Sunday, the board worshiped at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Chicago. Rev. Erik Christensen, ELM’s co-chair gave a sermon about Paul’s life and work. The sermon is part of the way the ELM Board of Directors honored Paul’s life over the weekend.  Paul’s life continues through ELM and all those whose lives he touched.

Paul W. Egertson, former ELCA bishop, and beloved advocate for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people passed away at his home yesterday following a heart attack.

For the past two years, Paul has been serving as a member of ELM’s board of directors, the Covenant Circle.  He will be deeply missed.

We will share a longer tribute to Paul in the coming days.  In the meantime, we ask for your prayers for Paul’s beloved spouse, Shirley Egertson, their sons, and extended family.

In the forward to a collection of essays by Joel R. Workin, Paul wrote,

“When Joel died, all of us cried, and I was blessed.  It was one of those experiences you recall when reading lines like those in Robert Browning Hamilton’s poem, Along the Road:

I walked a mile with Pleasure;

She chattered all the way,

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow

And ne’er a word said she;

but oh, the things I learned from her

When sorrow walked with me!”

Paul, thank you for your amazing life and for your endless love and tireless advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. You have blessed us.

A memorial for Paul Egertson was held Saturday, January 15 at 1:00 p.m. at Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA.